We're Just Friends

“Have you ever loved someone as a friend, for many years?”

The school-years portion is very short. The story is mainly set in the city, and they have reunited.

Lu Yannan x Zhou An, a second-chance romance

Zhou An knows exactly how to flirt. The right amount of warmth beneath his cool demeanor is more than Lu Yannan can handle.

The first time they met: dusk, on the rooftop of an abandoned classroom building.

Lu Yannan stepped on the long shadow in front of her, using the most casual, carefree tone she could manage to do something thoroughly calculated.

“Hey, could I borrow your lighter?”

Smoke curled through the air. At her words, Zhou An held it out. His cool fingertips brushed the warm, trembling palm of the girl beside him.

But a moment later, he took the lighter back.

“Someone as sweet-looking as you smokes?”

Zhou An studied Lu Yannan’s clean-cut, proud face with amusement. His languid, distant manner made it clear he didn’t take her seriously.

“But smoking is bad for your health. You should quit.”

Later, Lu Yannan became the only girl among Zhou An’s many friends. Her long hair brushed his shoulder just as she had hoped, and when they took photos, everyone crowded around her as she stood beside him.

In the middle of the crowd, he was still the center of attention.

But when other girls asked for a ride, he left them standing there, then personally placed a helmet on Lu Yannan’s head. Looking into her clear, stubborn eyes, he spoke slowly, each word gentle and roguish.

“Sorry, my motorcycle’s back seat isn’t for just anyone.”

He also knew exactly how to hurt someone.

The year they graduated, their friends gathered in bustling little groups. Zhou An, who had always stayed within five meters of Lu Yannan, was nowhere by her side.

After dialing the number she knew by heart, Lu Yannan confessed, emboldened by alcohol.

On the phone, a long silence stretched between their restrained, tangled breaths. Zhou An laughed and sighed. As always, the first thing he said was her childhood nickname, spoken with fond familiarity.

“Zhuzhu, you’re not in love with me. You’re just emotionally dependent on me, and we...”

His hoarse voice suddenly faltered.

Lu Yannan tightened her grip on the phone. Her eyes stung so badly that, despite forcing them wide open, she could barely hold back her tears.

She stayed silent, waiting for him to turn her down.

“And we’re only friends.”

Years later, she saw Zhou An again at an alumni reunion.

He was as dazzling as ever, with no shortage of women pursuing him or falling for him.

At the dinner, the two of them, each too proud to acknowledge the other, sat facing each other all night without so much as a moment of eye contact.

An old friend who knew the story nudged Zhou An, waggling his eyebrows as he teased him.

“So, what’s your relationship with Miss Lu these days?”

Zhou An said nothing, but the old friends at the table exchanged knowing smiles all the same.

Only after their laughter died down did Lu Yannan answer with effortless composure. She raised her glass to Zhou An from across the room, as if returning the words he had said all those years ago.

“What relationship could we have?”

“We’re just friends.”

She finished her drink with a faint smile.

She toasted their old feelings and smiled at the person from her past.

But she turned and left too quickly to see Zhou An’s carefully maintained nonchalance dissolve along with the smoke filling the room.

A-Lin has a song called “Dear Friend.” Lu Yannan thinks it describes her relationship with Zhou An perfectly.

“A relationship everyone envies, just a sequel with no ending.”

“We never define what we are. It’s so delicate, but it isn’t love.”

To Zhou An, though, when the wild geese fly south, they leave their traces behind. The place where she stopped is the shore he has spent his whole life yearning to reach.

Zhou An, I can’t ferry you across. People can only save themselves.

But I’ll wait for you on the shore, forever and ever.

tips:

1. The female lead isn’t a goody-goody, and she isn’t pathetic. The male lead isn’t a scumbag or a playboy. He’s only ever flirted with the female lead.

2. The male lead has no particular opinion about women smoking. There’s no sexism involved.

3. I like giving characters a smoking habit as part of their characterization. It’s just my personal preference, with no intention of encouraging anything. If you don’t like it, please don’t criticize or read.

Blurb screenshot dated 2024.10.31

Theme: Love is a lonely act of courage. See it through to the end.